Belonging
by RavenclawMama
Summary: Pre-CS After a rocky start when they were younger, Rose and Scorpius learn to put aside the past and work together on a complicate school project.


Author's Note: Thank you to Scarlett71177 for the great beta!

 _Fourth Year_

"I can't imagine what anyone would see in him," Lily Potter said loudly over her shoulder to her cousin Rose. "He's insufferable."

"And his pointy chin," Rose Weasley giggled back to her cousin, "I'm surprised he hasn't taken someone's eye out with it on the Quidditch Pitch."

Lily cackled louder as she pushed open a compartment door, "And he's so pale and… Slytherin-y. I heard his parents don't have a Knut to their name. Did you see the shabby robes he was wearing before we went to Holiday? And I heard that he lives in a tiny flat with only one room."

Rose tucked a curl behind her ear and backed into the compartment dragging her trunk. She knew Lily was going too far teasing about someone being poor considering the Weasleys' humble beginnings. But nonetheless, she nodded enthusiastically, "Bad form for a _Malfoy_."

She felt something slam into her from behind and looked around wildly as Scorpius Malfoy scrambled around her. His face was hot and his eyes looked suspiciously wet.

"Didn't see you there, Malfoy," Lily called gleefully out of the compartment before dissolving into a snickering fit again.

Rose turned and stared at her cousin in horror. She debated for several minutes whether or not to go after him, but decided that he would be fine without her. And what could she say to him anyway? He wouldn't want to hear it. The rest of her journey passed with her nose in a book, though she wasn't reading it. Her other cousins came and went, and Rose dutifully turned a page here and there, but she could not seem to get Malfoy's face out of her mind. Nor could she forget the feeling of sudden upheaval. Her sense of belonging had vanished. She snuck a glance at Lily, her closest friend, and decided that she didn't really know her after all.

 _Seventh Year_

Rose knew who the voice belonged to before she saw him. She would know that smooth, drawling voice anywhere. After all, she'd heard it taunting her enough over the past three years at Hogwarts, and the rush and shame it brought was completely unforgettable.

"At least you aren't stuck with buck-toothed Weasel Girl for a two-week potions assignment," he drawled to someone unseen. Rose pressed herself into an alcove as the group of Slytherin boys rounded the corner. She prayed to remain unnoticed. For if Scorpius Malfoy saw her, he would certainly say something about her perfectly pressed Gryffindor robes, or her too-curly red hair. The words she could take, and would gladly take, if only she could bear the anger and resentment in his eyes.

She'd known three years ago that she should not have said those things about him. Rose knew what the war had done to his family as well as other repentant Voldemort supporters. They'd been stripped of many of their rights as well as most of their gold and nobody wanted to do business with them. It was a hard, cold fact of life. She couldn't imagine it was easy, but then, she would never really know being a part of a family who was on the right side.

 _Don't breathe_ , she willed herself as the boys slowly ambled by. Scorpius looked slightly disheveled. His robes were just a little too big and hung crooked on his stocky Quidditch-toned body. His hair was never quite in place and it hung a little longer than was considered fashionable. He swaggered like the Slytherin Quidditch hero he was, and the other boys on his team followed his lead.

Rose's face flushed. He was very handsome, for git.

"I'd rather be stuck with Weasley over Olivia Smith _any_ day," one of the blond boys said with a smirk, "Weasley's quite fit, and I hear she's a great snog."

Scorpius glanced in her direction and met her surprised look with a taunting smirk, "I doubt anyone's ever got her to stop spouting her know-it-all rubbish long enough to snog her."

The boys all laughed, and Rose pushed herself harder against the cold stone wall. Her breathing accelerated. She felt tears welling in her eyes. For some reason his barb hurt worse than usual. She slid down the wall into a crouch and pressed her palms to her eyes.

She took a deep breath. It was only five minutes before potions class, and Rose decided in an instant that she wasn't going to be there. There was no way she was going to go sit next to Scorpius Malfoy for two hours with him gloating about his well-placed dig. She waited a minute to make sure the hall was clear and then darted out from her hiding place in the opposite direction of the dungeons.

Rose ran until she found herself breathless, standing in front of a tapestry that she knew hid a secret passageway. She assured herself that no one was coming and jumped behind the hanging. She paced for several minutes, conjured a fluffy blue armchair and sank into it. This was a solitary place, and no one knew to look for her here.

 _The boy had bollocks, that was for sure_ , she thought angrily while staring at the wall of the dark tunnel through wand light. He was insufferable… but she still felt guilty as hell. This was all her fault. Every bit of teasing, every nasty word. Had she only been a kinder person, it would have never started. Hell, they might have even been friends.

Head in hands, she thought back to a scene last summer.

 _Rose had been thinking about him, as usual. She wasn't sure why she thought of him often, only that she did. And there was always that overwhelming sense of guilt and the feeling of anchor tied to her heart—that sinking feeling when she saw the pent-up anger and hurt in his eyes. She wanted so badly to just soothe it… to say she was sorry._

 _Her uncle George, her favorite uncle, had found her in her pensive state under an old oak tree at The Burrow, the family home where her Grandmum and Granddad Weasley lived._

 _"If it is boy trouble, I don't want details. I don't want to get in trouble for hitting an underage wizard…" he joked, sitting down in the dirt next to her._

 _"It isn't boy troubles," she reassured him. "Well, not exactly."_

 _George sighed taking her cue and turning serious, "What does 'not exactly' mean? Either it is, or it isn't, right?"_

 _"It is a boy…"_

 _"Aha!"_

 _"No, Uncle George," Rose said laughing. "It is a boy, but it isn't 'boy troubles'. The git is teasing me, and I want him to stop."_

 _George frowned. "Why on earth would someone tease you? Your kind and loyal and a hell of a Chaser to boot."_

 _Rose leaned against her uncle. "This is why I like you so much. I needed that."_

 _"What did he say about you?"_

 _"He calls me a swot, and he says I look like a Weasel with buckteeth. And he teases me about my hair, and my family, and everything," Rose replied putting her head in her hands._

 _"How long as this been going on?" he said frowning._

 _"A while... I probably deserve it," she added in an undertone._

 _"Who is this boy?"_

 _"Scorpius Malfoy," she said with a frown._

 _"Malfoy!" George said, jumping up. "I'll curse him into next week!"_

 _"Uncle George!" Rose exclaimed and followed him off the ground. "Please, no… He doesn't mean the things he says." She clamped a hand over her mouth and felt herself redden. Why on Earth should she be defending him to her uncle when all he ever did was tease her? She felt sorry for him. That was why. Obviously. But it wasn't pity that made her heart erratic when he spoke to her._

 _George stopped ranting and looked at Rose, narrowing his eyes. "You fancy him!" he accused, sounding exactly like his son._

 _"I—I don't!" Rose said uncertainly, trying to process the possibility. "I just know I deserve the things he says about me."_

 _His eyes were still narrowed."And just exactly why would you think deserve that treatment? And from Death Eater-spawn, no less? Do you think so little of yourself? Of our family?"_

 _And Rose broke down in tears and told him about everything. The day on the train, every insult he'd hurled at her since and the look in his eyes when Scorpius saw her. That was what hurt the most—that he thought she would hurt him again when she hadn't really meant to the first time._

 _"And he hadn't ever bothered you before?"George said._

 _Shaking her head, Rose replied, "Never. He was always polite."_

 _"And Lily…"_

 _"She always says things like that, and I used to just agree with her… But we don't talk much anymore," Rose confided. "Everyone thinks we grew apart, but I was so ashamed by the way she acted. I just couldn't look at her the same anymore."_

 _George gathered Rose in his arms and soothed her. "Maybe it is time to put it all behind you. Apologize to him."_

 _"It'll be harder now," she said, sniffing. "He'll think I want him to stop being a bully."_

 _"Let him think it, Rosie. At least your conscience will be clear."_

 _And if her conscience was clear, maybe the weight would be lifted from her heart as well._

Perhaps it was time to take her beloved uncle's advice. Let Malfoy think what he wanted. Maybe if she apologized, she would stop noticing _things_ about him.

 _Whoooooooo…._ Rose felt the air stir as an owl soared over her and then made its way to her shoulder. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Hello beautiful," she said stroking the bird's wing. He stuck his talon out for her to relieve him of a thick piece of parchment. Rose pointed her wand-light at the parchment so she could read it.

 _Weasley,_

 _I missed you in potions today. Meet me in the restricted section after dinner to start work on our assignment._

 _S. Malfoy_

Rose could feel the smirk in the slant of his writing. Her cheeks burned with anger as she dropped the parchment and stomped it into the floor. She huffed in indignation, and the owl ruffled his feathers. "You can leave now!" The bird blinked at her twice and hooted. "Oh for Merlin's sake. He wants me to _reply_ to that?" She dusted off the note got out a quill.

 _Malfoy,_

 _I will bloody-well be there after dinner. Don't keep me waiting._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The Bucktoothed, Never-Been-Snogged, Know-It-All_

 _P.S._

 _You are an insufferable ass!_

The library gave her comfort. Rose brushed her fingertips across the spine of a very old leather bound book and sighed. She had been so nervous about the confrontation—for she couldn't think of it as anything else—to come, that she hadn't enjoyed the roast pork or the mashed potatoes she'd forced herself to swallow at dinner. She had not even looked at the Spotted Dick before shouldering her bag and leaving the Great Hall.

Rose swallowed hard. Her mouth was parchment dry.

"Weasley," he drawled from behind her.

Her heart sped up in her chest as she turned to face him. He was dressed in casual slacks and a white button-down oxford. She felt her face redden. "Malfoy," she replied with a curt nod. "I take it you have a note for the restricted section?"

"Of course I do," he replied indignantly, "Our potion is, after all, quite restricted."

"Yes, of course," Rose replied briskly as she turned toward the corner of the library that housed dangerous books. "I thought we should start by finding the instructions and then the three reference books. They don't have to be from the restricted section, you know? But of course they can be…"

"You're rambling…" Scorpius muttered as he followed closely behind her.

She turned even redder, if possible, and sped her pace until she was standing by a podium with a large tome open on it. She took out her quill and dipped it in a pot of candy-apple red ink and wrote in the book, _Veritaserum_. They waited for a moment in silence, watching as writing filled the pages.

"42 pages!" Rose exclaimed. "That has to be over three hundred books!"

"At least we won't be lacking for sources," he said lightly, "It lists every book the potion is even mentioned in. We can narrow it to non-fiction." He took the quill from Rose's grasp and dipped it in the red ink. i _Veritaserum, non-fiction, instructions_./i "There, only 2 pages."

"And only, one, two, three," she counted, "Seven of them are in the restricted section. Easy as cake. Good work, Malfoy."

"Whatever, Weasel," he said irritably, but Rose noticed his cheeks flush scarlet and couldn't help but smile. He wrote the names of several books on a piece of parchment and stalked off.

Rose sighed inwardly and did the same.

An hour later, they met at a table near the wall with the books they had pulled. "Have you found it yet?" she asked as she dropped several large books onto the polished surface. "I think it is in this one, but if we have two sources, we can compare and ask the professor which is more reliable. Or I can owl my mum and…"

"It's in this one," Scorpius cut her off and pushed an open book toward her.

The instructions were written in large, looping scrawl on musty yellow pages. "How can you tell?" she asked, eying it with distaste.

"It is right there," he slid a long pale finger across the page, "under where it says Veritaserum."

Her head shot up and she glared. She couldn't remember a time when she had ever risen to his bait before, and she didn't feel that now was very good timing. "I am not stupid, and I won't have you treating me like I have only half a brain," Rose snapped.

He smirked at her, his cool eyes assessing.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself as she dropped into a chair. She squinted at the brown ink and read the introduction. And then she read it again. "This can't be right!"

"What?"

"This says that Veritaserum takes a full moon cycle to mature…. But we only have two weeks?"

Scorpius smirked again. "If you had bothered to come to class today," he drawled, "you would have been there when Professor Phlox explained that she gave her two best students, you and me, a more difficult project to work on."

"You well know why I didn't come to class today," Rose said peevishly, her cheeks burning again. "But that is beside the point right now. You mean I am stuck with you for _four_ bloody weeks?"

"It isn't a picnic for me either," he reminded her.

"So I heard. It must be difficult for you to gaze upon my buck teeth and freckles day in and day out." She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away to try and control the sting of angry tears behind her eyes.

Scorpius pointedly ignored her and opened one of the books she'd brought back and started to flip through the worn pages. She glanced at his impassive face and felt a surge of disappointment. For some reason she had expected an apology from him. Her eyes moved back to the book in front of her and she read the rest of the potion.

It didn't seem that difficult really, just very tedious and precise. Add 21.5 milligrams of this, stir clockwise once, heat to 37 degrees Celsius and add two crushed leaves of that… It was very involved and would definitely take up her evenings, and unfortunately, Malfoy's too. It appeared that she would be seeing quite a lot of him over the next four weeks.

The first two weeks of their assignment went by quietly. They met every night at the Room of Requirement—someplace that few knew about in the wake of the war. Most assumed it had been destroyed, as that area of the castle had been severely damaged, but Rose's father had told her otherwise, and apparently Malfoy's father had told Scorpius to ' _just see if it was still there_ ' in his third year.

Neither of the pair flung insults. In fact, they rarely spoke to one another unless it was a polite request to pass something or a muttered instruction. For the past three days they had passed the paper back and forth each writing only a couple paragraphs based on an outline they'd come up with. On the night before their paper was due, they lay on their stomachs in front of a roaring hearth in the Room of Requirement.

"This paragraph should come before this one," Scorpius muttered as he marked the parchment with bright green ink. Rose nodded and copied the paragraph onto the final draft. He glanced over, "Your handwriting is so neat and clean… and girly." He wrinkled his nose.

"I am a girl," she replied easily. "My mum used to make me copy passages out of philosophy books."

"How dull… Father at least gave me newspapers and Quidditch periodicals to copy."

Rose laughed and busied herself with copying the next bit of their essay. It was amazing how, over the past fortnight, they had formed a tentative, if awkward and quiet, friendship. It was also amazing how her heart sped up when she saw him in the hall between classes, at meals and, well, anywhere really. She always expected his typical jibes but since the note he sent, they never came.

Her quill stilled and she snuck a sidelong glance at Scorpius. His white-blond hair fell across his forehead as he studied the parchment intently. His feather quill was between his lips, "Do you think we should leave out the bit about the history of using beetle dung in potions? I mean, our paper is already two-feet past…"

"I'm sorry," Rose blurted feeling her cheeks heat up and her heart hammer against her ribs. His eyes flashed to hers, and then he scowled. "For that day on the train," she continued unnecessarily.

Scorpius was silent. Rose felt like she was going to burst with the tension that had suddenly filled the room. Why had she opened her mouth? What had compelled her to just say something like that without any thought or tact? Maybe it was the way the firelight was reflecting of his face or the warmth of the room? Whatever the reason, she couldn't take her words back now.

"Why?" he finally whispered.

"Why am I sorry?" Rose asked bewildered.

"Why are you apologizing _now_? Why not then? Why not a year ago?" he asked searching her face for the answer.

"Immediately, I didn't know what to say, or if you would have wanted to hear it. I was so ashamed," she said quietly, "Then you were teasing me, and I felt like I deserved every word. It hurt, but I told myself it was an eye for an eye. I should have never said those things about you. I've hardly talked to Lily since that day."

He nodded once and busied himself reading the rough draft again.

Rose felt like a moron—a socially inept moron, to be precise. She could see the unease in his brow, and the effort he was making to ignore her watching him. Finally Scorpius handed the paper to her and said, "It looks good. I scratched out the six paragraphs about dung. Just copy the rest." She watched as he stood, stretched his long arms and legs, and went to check on the gently simmering potion a few feet away. She listened to the rustle of worn pages as he read tonight's instructions. Rose swore she could feel his eyes on her, but thought she must be imagining things. For what reason would handsome Scorpius Malfoy be staring at ordinary Rose Weasley?

She took a deep breath and went back to writing the final copy of their paper.

The next week and a half passed by smoothly. Rose didn't blurt out any more apologies or make any thoughtless remarks. In fact, once again she reverted to being shy and quiet opting to let Scorpius do most of the talking. She felt tense whenever he was near, but it was not unpleasant. In fact, she rather enjoyed the feeling. It felt like she was a tightly strung harp. Even the slightest brush of his trouser leg against hers or his breath against her ear as he stood behind her reading the potions book caused her pulse to hum.

One day before lunch, Rose was walking back from the greenhouses with her cousin, Albus Potter. He elbowed her in the ribs, "So what is going on with you and Malfoy?"

Rose tried not to blush, but failed. "Nothing at all. We are working on our potions project together."

"But he isn't being a prat anymore," Albus said, raising one eyebrow.

Shrugging her shoulders she said, "I think we called a temporary truce."

Albus grinned like he knew something she didn't, and Rose wanted to smack him. He always did that before he was going to prove her wrong. "I am pretty sure I noticed him walking you to Potions and History of Magic this week. And I'm also pretty sure that Deanne Thomas told me you were sitting together passing notes while Professor Binns was lecturing."

"It was about our potion," Rose remarked feebly. "It is very difficult to brew."

Now that she thought about it, they had been discussing the chances of Slytherin or Gryffindor winning the House Cup… and their favorite sweets… anything but the _Veritaserum_ brewing in the Room of Requirement. As they approached the castle she said more to herself, "Besides, why would Malfoy want anything to do with me outside of class?" A question she'd been plaguing herself with ever since they started to approach the end of the moon cycle.

"Hey Rose!" Scorpius called as he came bounding down the staircase into the entryway. "Can we talk for a minute?"

Albus gave her a smirk that reeked with an unsaid "I-told-you-so." She fought the urge to make a rude hand gesture as she joined Scorpius at the bottom of the stairs. He took her elbow and led her toward the Great Hall. She could hear Albus laugh as he ran up the stairs behind her.

"I have an impromptu Quidditch practice tonight," Scorpius said with a frown, "because of the game tomorrow. I won't be done until well after eight."

"Oh, ok," Rose replied feeling her heart sink just a little. "I can get Albus to help me with the potion if I need it."

"If you let Potter within ten feet of that potion, I will never speak to you again!" he said, grinning, although she could hear a note of seriousness in his tone.

Rose laughed and smiled brightly at him. She had seen firsthand what Albus could do to a potion. "I'll get someone else."

They stopped in the middle of the aisle between tables. She couldn't help but notice a few people looking their way. He bent his head lower and said, "Will you be cheering for Slytherin tomorrow?" Rose gave a very unladylike snort. "Will you be cheering for _me_?"

"In your dreams, Malfoy," she said laughingly.

Scorpius grinned at her and squeezed her elbow before turning on his heel and going to the Slytherin table. It took several minutes and a tall glass of pumpkin juice to calm the butterflies in her stomach enough to eat. Merlin, but he had an amazing affect on her

That night she spent three hours working on the potion alone. This was hers and Scorpius' place, and for some reason it felt wrong to have anyone else there.

The next day, when she made her way to the Room of Requirement, she expected to be alone as well. Slytherin had won the five hour long game, and Scorpius had blocked loads of goals. They were undoubtedly going to be celebrating all night. Resigned, Rose decided to get to work.

The powdered unicorn horn would make the sweet-smelling pink potion turn odorless and clear. She couldn't help but laugh at herself as she measured out the last ingredient, remembering the way her heart leapt into her throat during one particularly spectacular save made by Scorpius. He'd swung off his broom to kick the Quaffle away from the hoop just in time. Rose had jumped up out of her seat with a girlish shriek. Albus had laughed whole-heartedly, while the Ravenclaws they were sitting with glared at her.

The door squeaked startling Rose out of her thoughts. "You started without me," Scorpius accused as he made his way to the table.

"Just barely. I didn't expect you to be here tonight," she said, "You could have stayed and celebrated with your team. There's only the one more ingredient to add tonight and lots of stirring." He pulled a chair around the table and sat next to her. He smelled like soap and something spicy.

"One turn per minute for 74 minutes."

Rose grimaced, "Not such a big deal. You can still make it back to the party, if you want."

"I'd rather be here with you," he said simply, taking the powdered unicorn horn from her hands. Rose felt the butterflies swarm into her stomach as she met his serious gaze.

"Thank you."

Scorpius smiled.

Rose met Scorpius outside of the Great Hall after dinner was finished. They made their way upstairs to the fifth floor. Every time Scorpius' arm brushed hers, she nearly jumped out of her skin. It had taken her a while to come to terms with the attraction she felt for Scorpius Malfoy. Possibly years.

It was Sunday night, and they were both wearing Jeans and t-shirts, as school uniforms were not required. Hers had the name of a Wizarding band imprinted across the chest in hot pink and his was a simple white tee. He carried his book bag as well as hers as they bounded up the stairs side-by-side.

They stopped short outside the entrance. "This is the moment of truth," Rose said, and then held her breath as she paced to make the door appear.

He opened the door and followed her closely through, "Do you smell that?" he whispered just behind her.

"No," she replied, grinning with pride. They went to the table and hovered over the potion. It still had forty-minutes until the moonrise. It was bubbling, clear, and absolutely odorless. "We did it!" she said bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Scorpius grinned widely, unsettling Rose to her core, and took a seat on the floor next to the hearth. "We should get started on our report of the results."

Rose agreed and took her place next to him. They were working so intently on outlining the potion-making process that the loud " _POP_ " the potion made when the moon rose startled her into knocking over an inkwell.

Laughing, Scorpius stood and helped Rose up off the floor. They went to the potion again, and Rose turned the heat off. "I can't believe it is finished," Rose said reverently. "All that work for one potion. I imagine they have people just brewing potions in the law enforcement department."

"Do you think we should test it?" He asked.

"No!" Rose said quickly and looked around nervously, "Isn't it against the law?"

"I don't think it is," Scorpius said with a furrowed brow. "The brewing of Veritaserum is very controlled, as is the use. But I don't think it is illegal to use as long as the participants are willing."

"Three drops are what they use in the Auror's office for criminal investigations. I heard my mum telling my dad about interrogating an old Death Eater who'd been killing Muggles. I don't think I was supposed to hear it, but…" Rose said uncertainly. "Maybe it'll be alright if we just each take a single drop?" Scorpius looked at her seriously and nodded. Her pulse quickened and she licked her lips, "You don't mind if I know your secrets?"

"Just promise you won't ask about the Slytherin playbook," Scorpius said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"What is something you would never tell me if given the choice?" Rose asked. "So we can see if it is working."

"My middle name," he replied easily, "You?"

After some hesitation, Rose answered, "The most embarrassing moment of my life."

"And you don't care if I know that?" Scorpius said uncertainly. Rose shook her head. She wouldn't mind at all if he learned about the day when she was thirteen and started her period during a Charms lesson, half the school knew anyway. "Bottom's up!" He said putting the drop of potion on his tongue. Rose followed suit.

"State your full name."

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy."

Rose wrinkled her nose, "Hyperion?"

Scorpius groaned, "That is why I don't tell anyone. State your full name for me."

"Rose Lynne Weasley." She didn't feel any compulsion to tell him, but she knew that she would have told anyone.

"Rosie-Lynne. Cute," Scorpius said grinning. "Can you, Rose, divulge your most embarrassing moment?"

And then Rose felt it. She blushed and she could hear her inner voice saying the words, but she was keeping her mouth resolutely shut. It wasn't what she'd thought to tell him. And then there it was again a nagging voice, _Tell him, open your mouth and speak._ It was getting harder to disobey the voice. "It was four weeks ago," she said through gritted teeth, "When you told your friends that I was a know-it-all and that no one could ever get me to shut up long enough to kiss me."

She saw, through the blur of tears, that Scorpius' face had fallen and she knew that this had changed from simply testing the Veritaserum to something more. "I am so sorry," he said moving a step closer to her. Rose took a step back and felt the wall against her back. She felt a tear fall. She hated crying. Why had that been the one thing to override her previously most embarrassing moment?

"Ask me why I give you such a hard time," Scorpius said.

"Why do you say those hurtful things to me?" she searched his face, "And not Lily?" It was something that had troubled her. Lily had been the one cackling after him, not Rose.

Rose searched his grey eyes and she could see that he was having the same inner-battle that she'd fought. "God, you know how to ask questions," he muttered before the words started to tumble from his mouth. "I expected it of Lily… but not you. She'd always been a snob to me, making snide remarks about my family's status and my ill-fitting robes. I'd never liked her. But to hear you, Rose, agreeing with her… Merlin, I was half in love with you." Rose gasped. "And you'd never noticed me as more than the boy who sat behind you and offered to let you borrow a quill when you'd forgotten yours. When I heard you agreeing with her, it hurt more than it should have. I was angry and embarrassed. I didn't ask to be poor or have a Death Eater for a father, but I'm not ashamed of either. And after so long, I just kept teasing you because it was what I did, how we worked. At least you noticed me." His face was red and he was breathing hard searching her face. "Why did you agree with her?"

Rose's hands were shaking and she didn't even bother to fight the voice in her head that was telling her to speak. "I looked up to her. I know it is weird, what with her being younger, but I did. Lily was always the pretty one, the one who was outgoing and was friends with everyone in our family. I know it is a bollocks excuse, but there it is." She took a deep breath and added, "I've regretted it every day since."

"Will you forgive me?" Scorpius said, "For all the things I've said? You have to know that I didn't mean them. I just wanted you to never look past me again."

Rose took a step closer to him and nodded feeling warmth spread through her body, "Of course I forgive you. Have you forgiven me? "

He nodded and, after a long silence, Scorpius spoke. "Is it true then?" He took another step closer. She could smell his aftershave and see the pulse leaping in his neck.

"Is what true?" she said, wiping the last bit of moisture from her eyes with the sleeve of her t-shirt.

Scorpius smirked and moved forward again so that he was practically pressed against her. "That no one has ever gotten you to shut up long enough to kiss you?" Rose looked away. "You signed your note that day, ' _Never-Been-Snogged.'_ "

"No, I've never kissed anyone," Rose said, trying to fight the effects of Veritaserum. i _The damned potion/i_. She didn't know if she had ever blushed this hard in her entire life. Her ears were even sizzling.

He swallowed hard, "Would you like to?"

"To kiss someone?" she rasped. "Yes."

Scorpius licked his lips. His gaze was boring into hers. When he spoke, his voice was a whisper, "Would you like it if I kissed you?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure you want your first kiss to be with a poor Slytherin bloke from a bad family?"

Rose nodded, "None of that means anything to me."

His gray eyes sparked as he leaned forward. Rose held her breath. "You're sure?"

She didn't feel the potion forcing a response when she replied, "Very much so." Rose wrapped her arms around Scorpius' neck and met his lips halfway. She felt the sudden thrill of the kiss like the floor had been dropped out from beneath her. He had his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him.

Their kisses were soft and exploratory. _Exquisite_ , Rose thought as she pulled back and grinned at him.

"What would your family think," Scorpius said cautiously, "if I were to ask you out?"

"Who cares? The only people that matter are my mum and dad, and they will think you are great," Rose replied twisting a lock of his hair around her finger. She watched him for a minute and then grinned knowing that, despite everything in the past, this was where she belonged. "Well, what are you waiting for?"


End file.
